MacArthur beats VSC in semis

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Trailing MacArthur by five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of their Nassau Class AA baseball best-of-three semifinal playoff series and facing elimination on May 26, Valley Stream Central tried its best to add another chapter to its Cinderella story.

The Eagles scored twice in the sixth, and plated another run in the seventh and had the bases loaded with one out when relief pitcher Mike Sivilli slammed the door to preserve the Generals’ 6-4 series-clinching victory in Game 2 at Firemen’s Field.

Sivilli, who fanned four in two innings to save the win for starter Bobby Lewis, got a strikeout and then a flyout to opening-game hero Vin Martino in right as No. 2 MacArthur (18-4) punched its ticket to the finals against fifth-seeded Oceanside. Lewis allowed five hits in five innings and followed Brandon Kustek’s two-run homer in the sixth with a solo shot.

Elijah Tavarez and Chris Deguilla drove in two runs apiece for Central (12-12), which split six games in its first postseason appearance in 13 years.

“That’s a very good team we just beat,” MacArthur coach Steve Costello said. “I’ve been saying for the past three years since we’ve been conference rivals how Frank [Alesia] is a tremendous coach and role model for those kids.

“I’m proud of the way our kids hung in there both games,” he added. “We got solid pitching, some big hits and a very big defensive play yesterday.”

Martino’s diving catch on May 25 ended Game 1 with the bases loaded as MacArthur held on for a 5-2 win. “We battled right down to the last out, not just in this series but in every game,” said Alesia, whose team beat No. 7 Port Washington in the first round and then upset top-seeded East Meadow in the best-of-three quarterfinals. “They might not be thinking about it now, but the guys are going to look back and realize how much they accomplished,” he added. “We did things that Central baseball hasn’t done in almost 15 years. We didn’t want the season to end.”

The Generals, who beat the Eagles three times during the regular season, scored twice in the second when Martino and Kustek crossed the plate on Brian Perez’s infield single. Central, the No. 10 seed, got on the board in the fourth when Joe Picillo singled with one out and came home on Deguilla’s triple off the fence in right. However, Lewis stranded Deguilla at third and Dan Egan at second, and walked off the bump in the sixth leading 6-1.

“Bobby pitched another excellent game,” Costello said. “He had the slider going, which was huge. He threw six shutout innings on this field a few weeks ago in our conference-clinching game, so he came in with confidence.”

Jared Wolfe, who drove in two runs for MacArthur in the series opener to back the strong pitching of Jack Wall, went 2-for-5 with an RBI in Game 2. Picillo went 3-for-3, while Tavarez, Deguilla, and standout catcher Vito Friscia had two hits apiece for Central.